Chapter 18: School Is In Session
1467 Words
Ryan and Sherry were still sitting with their backs to the door when someone started knocking. They both stood up and walked across the room. Ryan cautiously opened the door, and they were greeted by the scarred man’s evil grin. He asked, “Where’s the money? Give it to me or get out of the house!”
“How much is?” Ryan asked.
“Eight hundred thousand!” the scarred man replied.
“What kind of bullshit math is this?” Ryan hissed. “It was three hundred thousand when you came by the last time. This is highway robbery!”
The scarred man had a sinister expression on his face. He looked at Ryan and responded in a villainous tone: “You must have forgotten about the interest.”
Inside, Sherry was raging. She stepped forward, glared at the scarred man, and began to curse. “You bastard!” she shouted. “How dare you ask us to pay eight hundred thousand! This was NOT in our agreement!”
“So what?” The scarred man shrugged and said, “Just give me the money or get out!”
Ryan sighed and said, “Alright. I’ll transfer the money to you.”
Sherry was taken aback. Where did he get this kind of money? – she wondered.
Ryan transferred the money to the scarred man, and the money was in his account in less than a minute.
Everyone gasped. They had not expected that Ryan would be able to pay the debt in such a short amount of time.
“How did you get the money?” Sherry asked. “Or did you have it all along? Were you pretending to be poor?”
“I’ll tell you later,” he replied. Then he turned to the scarred man and told him to leave.
The scarred man gave Ryan a dirty look, put his phone back into his pocket, and said, “I did not expect you to pay on time. Just because you did, it does not mean that we are leaving.” He cleared his throat and two of his goons walked in.
Sherry glared at him. “You want this apartment, don’t you?”
“Yes. We are here for this house. You had better leave now.”
Sherry’s apartment was in the downtown area, and it was worth at least one million dollars.
“I’ve paid the debt,” Ryan said. He had a stony expression on his face. “You should leave right now.” Up until this point, he had been struggling to keep his temper. Even though it left a sour taste in his mouth, he knew that it was right and proper to pay the loan sharks their principal plus interest. Now that the debt was paid, he would not stand by as they took Sherry’s apartment away.
Sherry saw the look in Ryan’s eyes, and it frightened her. She took his arm and said, “Listen. Let’s just go. They can have this place.”
The scarred man looked Sherry up and down, and he winked lecherously. “He should leave,” he said. “But you need to stay.”
Sherry’s face turned pale. “W-W-What do you m-mean?” she stuttered.
The scarred man grinned and said, “I want to f**k you. All of my men do.”
When Ryan heard that, he was so infuriated that he punched the scarred man in the face so hard that he fell backward and landed on his ass. His companions were astounded. No one had ever treated their boss this way.
The scarred man picked himself up from the ground and gasped. “How dare you!” he shouted. “You are a dead man!”
The men showed Ryan their axes and began to circle him in a predatory fashion. Sherry was terrified. “Ryan,” she cried. “You need to get out of here.”
Much to everyone’s surprised, Ryan showed no sign of being afraid. He grinned and said, “Class is in session. It is about time that somebody taught you idiots a lesson!”
One of the men lunged at Ryan with an ax, but he was too quick for him. He stepped aside, squeezed his neck, lifted him up, and threw him at the other man, causing them to both fell to the ground.
No one had imagined that Ryan was so strong, and when the scarred man realized that it was a fight he could not win, he took a step backward.
“You are not getting off that easy,” Ryan said. He was as cool as a cucumber. He picked a knife up from off the ground, threw it to the scarred man, and said, “Pick it up.”
“Wh-What do you w-want?” the scarred man stuttered. He tried to stay cool, but it was of no use. He was obviously terrified. He was under the protection of Hart Turner, but Ryan apparently did not know that…
“Pick up the knife and sever your leg,” Ryan commanded.
“Wait!” Sherry stepped forward. She was worried that Hart Tuner would get back at Ryan if he harmed one of his men. “Don’t make things worse. He is under the protection of Hart Tuner.”
Ryan understood her worries. However, he had made up his mind to avenge himself and Sherry, and he was not afraid of Hart Tuner.
“If you don’t do it,” Ryan said, “I will cut off both of your legs.”
The scarred man squinted at the knife and sneered. “Do you know what you are doing?”
Ryan didn’t want to waste time listening to the other man’s threats, so he kicked in the chest. The scarred man flew across the room, and once he hit the ground, Ryan walked over and slapped him across the face.
The scarred man felt a sharp pain, and when he touched his mouth, he discovered that the slap had caused him to lose two of his teeth. His mind was reeling, and for a moment, he had no idea where he was.
Ryan slapped him again, and he lost consciousness.
***
When the scarred man regained his senses, the first thing that he saw was his leg. It had been cut off just above his thigh and it was leaning against his chest. He gave Ryan a dirty look and shouted, “What have you done to me?"
“You were warned,” Ryan replied.
The scarred man pushed himself into a sitting position, and as he cradled his leg, he began to cry. “You are going to pay back for this,” he wailed.
“Whatever.” Ryan shrugged. “Go tell your big brother. I will wait for him here.”
The scarred man nodded to his companions. They helped him up from the ground, and they left in a fluster.
Once they were gone, Sherry sat down on the sofa. The bloody scene was proving to be too much for her, and she was afraid. We are SO screwed - she thought.
Ryan thought that Sherry would be pleased, so her response puzzled him. He tried talking to her, but he got no response. Later, she went to his room, packed his belongings into a large suitcase, and brought it out.
“What is this for?” Ryan asked.
“You have to leave,” Sherry replied. “You made yourself an enemy of Hart Tuner. He will come for you, and you had better not be here when he does.”
“I can deal with him.” Ryan smiled. “You worry way too much. You have a real problem. You might want to seek professional help…”
“I do not worry too much!” Sherry exclaimed. “And if anyone has a problem, it is you! You don’t worry enough! You should go…” By now, Sherry was weeping hysterically. She cared a lot about Ryan’s wellbeing, and she thought he never should have cut off the leg of one of Hart Tuner’s men.
Ryan gave Sherry a stern look and said, “I am not leaving.”
“Fine.” Without another word, Sherry turned around and ran into her bedroom.
Soon after, Ryan went to his room. He went to bed, and after the exhausting day that he had had, he quickly fell asleep.
From the next room, Sherry could hear him snoring.
- Writer
